Rashidov

Following the death of Stalin in 1953, the relative relaxation of
totalitarian control initiated by First Secretary Nikita S. Khrushchev
(in office 1953-64) brought the rehabilitation of some of the Uzbek
nationalists who had been purged. More Uzbeks began to join the
Communist Party of Uzbekistan and to assume positions in the government.
However, those Uzbeks who participated in the regime did so on Russian
terms. Russian was the language of state, and Russification was the
prerequisite for obtaining a position in the government or the party.
Those who did not or could not abandon their Uzbek lifestyles and
identities were excluded from leading roles in official Uzbek society.
Because of these conditions, Uzbekistan gained a reputation as one of
the most politically conservative republics in the Soviet Union.

As Uzbeks were beginning to gain leading positions in society, they
also were establishing or reviving unofficial networks based on regional
and clan loyalties. These networks provided their members support and
often profitable connections between them and the state and the party.
An extreme example of this phenomenon occurred under the leadership of
Sharaf Rashidov, who was first secretary of the Communist Party of
Uzbekistan from 1959 to 1982. During his tenure, Rashidov brought
numerous relatives and associates from his native region into government
and party leadership positions. The individuals who thus became
"connected" treated their positions as personal fiefdoms to
enrich themselves.

In this way, Rashidov was able to initiate efforts to make Uzbekistan
less subservient to Moscow. As became apparent after his death,
Rashidov's strategy had been to remain a loyal ally of Leonid I.
Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, by bribing high
officials of the central government. With this advantage, the Uzbek
government was allowed to merely feign compliance with Moscow's demands
for increasingly higher cotton quotas.